Cops: Off-duty jail officers tried to start fights

June 05, 2009

Two intoxicated, off-duty Lake County sheriff's correctional officers flashed their badges and were "trying to start fights" Thursday morning at a sports bar, according to a Round Lake Heights police report.

Witnesses told police there were no fights, but when confronted, one officer pulled a knife from his pocket, according the report. The deputies warned patrons in the bar that they were police and "you can't touch us," the report said.

"It's the same old story, alcohol and arrogance," Curran said Thursday.

A Round Lake Heights police officer on patrol stopped to investigate when he saw a crowd of people outside the bar's east parking lot and heard yelling and screaming about 3 a.m., said Chief Donald Johnson.

Both sheriff's officers were visibly intoxicated, the report said. When told they could not drive home because they were drunk, the men said they would call for a ride, the report said.

No arrests were made because witnesses would not make formal statements or sign complaints against the officers, Johnson said.

The officers work in the Lake County Jail and both are still on their probationary period because they have been with the department less than a year, Curran said.

The bar's co-owner, Tim Lumpkins, described the incident as a verbal altercation between the two off-duty officers and two other patrons.

"You're just a glorified security guard," Lumpkins recalled a patron telling the officers at one point.

Lumpkins told both sides--and other patrons--to leave because it was closing time. He said there was no physical altercation or other disturbance.

Curran said he hopes to have the investigation done before July, and will make his decision about what to do when it is complete.